Korban

The Semitic root qrb (קרב) means 'be near'[10] and is found in a number of related languages in addition to Hebrew, e.g. in the Akkadian language noun aqribtu, meaning 'act of offering'. In Hebrew it is found in a number of words, such as qarov, 'close', qerovim, 'relatives', and the hifʕil verb form hiqriv, 'he brought near; offered a sacrifice'. The feminine noun korban (plural korbanot, קָרְבֳּנוֹת‎) first occurs in the Bible in Leviticus 1:2[11] and occurs 80 times in the Masoretic Text; 40 times in Leviticus, 38 in Numbers and twice in Ezekiel. The related form qurban appears only in the Book of Nehemiah 10:35[12] and Nehemiah 13:31,[13] meaning 'wood offering'. The etymology of the 'offer' sense is traditionally understood as deriving from the verbal sense of 'bringing near', viz. bringing the offering near to the deity,[14][15] but some theological explanations see it rather as bringing "man back to God".[16]

The Septuagint generally translates the term in Koine Greek as δῶρον, 'gift', θυσία, 'sacrifice', or προσφορά, 'offering up'. By the Second Temple period, Hellenistic Jewish texts use korban specifically to mean a vow. The New Testament preserves korban once as a transliterated loan-word for a vow, once also a related noun, κορβανάς ('temple treasury'), otherwise using δῶρον, θυσία or προσφορά and other terms drawn from the Septuagint. Josephus also generally uses other words for 'offering' but uses korban for the vow of the Nazirites (Antiquities of the Jews 4:73 / 4,4,4) and cites Theophrastus as having cited a korban vow among the Tyrians (Against Apion 1.167 / 1,22,4).[17]

Women were required to perform a number of offerings, including:

• The offerings following childbirth as described in the Book of Leviticus, 12.
• Thank offering and its accompanying meal offering following recovery from illness or danger.
• The Passover sacrifice on Passover. Women could offer the sacrifice and hold a Passover Seder themselves if they wished, even if married.
• Sin offerings or guilt offerings in atonement for transgressions and unintentional errors.
• The offering for an accused adulterous wife in the ordeal of the bitter water
• Offerings relevant to fulfillment of, or transgression of, the Nazirite vow.
• Offerings following cure from certain diseases and unusual bodily discharges.

Women could also voluntarily participate in a number of other offerings and rituals for which they were not obligated, including:

• First Fruits on the holiday of Shavuot.
• Temple tax – The half-shekel tax for Temple needs.
• Voluntary offerings, peace offerings and a variety of other voluntary and donative offerings.
• Semicha (laying on hands) of sacrificial animals for sacrifices they were not required to perform (Berachot 19a).
• Women could slaughter their sacrificial animals themselves if they wished.

Many books of the Nevi'im section of the Hebrew Bible such as the Book of Isaiah and Book of Jeremiah spoke out against those Israelites who brought forth sacrifices but did not act in accord with the precepts of the Law. The Prophets disparaged sacrifices that were offered without a regeneration of the heart, i.e., a determined turning from sin and returning to God by striving after righteousness (Book of Hosea 14:1-2, Joel 2:13, Micah 6:6-8). At the same time, prophets stressed the importance of offerings combined with justice and good even as they taught that offerings were unacceptable unless combined with heartfelt repentance and good deeds. Malachi, the last prophet in the Hebrew Bible, emphasized that the goal of repentance is not to end sacrifices, but to make the offerings fit for acceptance once again (Book of Malachi, 3:3-4). Similarly, the Book of Isaiah despite disparagement of sacrifices without justice, portrays sacrifice as having a role complementary with prayer in a universalistic eschatology (Isaiah 56:1; 6–7).

According to Maimonides, about one hundred of the permanent 613 commandments based on the Torah, by rabbinical enumeration, directly concern sacrifices, excluding those commandments that concern the actual Temple and the priests themselves of which there are about another fifty.[lower-alpha 1]

The Mishnah and Talmud devote a very large section, known as a seder, to the study and analysis of this subject known as Qodashim, whereby all the detailed varieties of korbanot are enumerated and analyzed in great logical depth, such as qodshim kalim ('of minor degree of sanctity') and qodashei qodashim ('of major degree of sanctity'). In addition, large parts of every other book of the Talmud discuss various kinds of sacrifices. Pesachim is largely devoted to a discussion of how to offer the Passover sacrifice. Yoma contains a detailed discussion of the offerings and Temple ritual on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), and there are sections in seder Moed (Festivals) for the special offerings and Temple ritual for other major Jewish holidays. Sheqalim discusses the annual half-shekel offering for Temple maintenance and Temple governance and management, Nashim discusses the offerings made by Nazirites and the suspected adultress, etc.

The Talmud provides extensive details not only on how to perform sacrifices but how to adjudicate difficult cases, such what to do if a mistake was made and whether improperly performing one of the required ritual elements invalidates it or not. The Talmud explains how to roast the Passover offering, how to dash blood from different kinds of sacrifices upon the altar, how to prepare the incense, the regulatory code for the system of taxation that financed the priesthood and public sacrifices, and numerous other details.

Maimonides, a medieval Jewish scholar, drew on the early critiques of the need for sacrifice, taking the view that God always held sacrifice inferior to prayer and philosophical meditation. However, God understood that the Israelites were used to the animal sacrifices that the surrounding pagan tribes used as the primary way to commune with their gods. As such, in Maimonides' view, it was only natural that Israelites would believe that sacrifice would be a necessary part of the relationship between God and man. This view is controversial since the Torah also forbids worship of foreign idols and practices of pagan religions as "detestable" before God including their sacrifices. Maimonides concludes that God's decision to allow sacrifices was a concession to human psychological limitations. It would have been too much to have expected the Israelites to leap from pagan worship to prayer and meditation in one step. In The Guide for the Perplexed, he writes:

But the custom which was in those days general among men, and the general mode of worship in which the Israelites were brought up consisted in sacrificing animals... It was in accordance with the wisdom and plan of God...that God did not command us to give up and to discontinue all these manners of service. For to obey such a commandment would have been contrary to the nature of man, who generally cleaves to that to which he is used; it would in those days have made the same impression as a prophet would make at present [the 12th century] if he called us to the service of God and told us in His name, that we should not pray to God nor fast, nor seek His help in time of trouble; that we should serve Him in thought, and not by any action.[39]

In contrast, many others such as Nahmanides (in his commentary on Leviticus 1:9) disagreed. Nahmanides cites the fact that the Torah records the practices of animal and other sacrifices from the times of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and earlier.[40] Indeed, the purpose of recounting the near sacrifice of Isaac was to illustrate the sublime significance and need of animal sacrifices as supplanting the abomination of human sacrifices.[41]

Abraham built a number of altars; the text does not mention that he sacrificed animals on them but only that he "called out in the name of God". This has been interpreted as a theological statement that God does not need animal sacrifices.[42]

The korban also has a spiritual meaning and refers to some part of an individual's ego, which is given up as a sacrifice to God in honouring the mortality of the worshipper. In keeping with the root of the word, meaning to draw close, and to the common usage as the sacrifice of an animal, so can the worshipper sacrifice something of this world to become closer to God.[43]

Numerous details of the daily religious practice of an ordinary Jew are connected to keeping memory of the rhythm of the life of the Temple and its sacrifices. For example, the Mishna begins with a statement that the Shema Yisrael prayer is to be recited in the evening at the time when Kohanim who were tamei (ritually impure) are permitted to enter to eat their heave offering (a food-tithe given to priests) following purification. A detailed discussion of the obligations of tithing, ritual purity, and other elements central to the Temple and priesthood is required in order to determine the meaning of this contemporary daily Jewish obligation.

Jewish services for Shabbat, Jewish holidays and other occasions include special prayers for the restoration of sacrifices. For example, the traditional Yom Kippur liturgy contains repeated prayers for the restoration of sacrifices and every High Holiday Amidah contains Isaiah 56:7:

Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon Mine altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.[47]

The prevailing belief among rabbinic Jews is that in the messianic era, the Messiah will come, and a Third Temple will be built. It is believed that the korbanot will be reinstituted, but to what extent and for how long is unknown. Some biblical and classical rabbinic sources hold that most or all sacrifices will not need to be offered:

• "In the future all sacrifices, with the exception of the Thanksgiving-sacrifice, will be discontinued." (Midrash Vayikra Rabbah 9:7)
• "All sacrifices will be annulled in the future." (Tanchuma Emor 14, Vayikra Rabbah 9:7)
• "Then the grain-offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to God as in the days of old, and as in ancient years." (Malachi 3:4)
• "It is impossible to go suddenly from one extreme to the other; [...] the custom which was in those days general among all men, and the general mode of worship in which the Israelites were brought up consisted of sacrificing animals in the temples... For this reason God allowed this kind of service to continue. The sacrificial system is not the primary object, rather supplications, and prayer." (Maimonides, The Guide to the Perplexed III 32)

The majority view of classical rabbis is that the Torah's commandments will still be applicable and in force during the messianic era. However, a significant minority of rabbis held that most of the commandments would be nullified in the messianic age, thus keeping that sacrifices will not be reinstated. Examples of such rabbinic views include:

• Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Niddah 61b and Tractate Shabbat 151b.

Orthodox Judaism holds that in the messianic era, most or all of the korbanot will be reinstituted, at least for a time. Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism, hold that no animal sacrifices will be offered in a rebuilt Temple at all, following the position of Tanchuma Emor 14 and Vayikra Rabbah 9:7.

In the 1800s a number of Orthodox rabbis studied the idea of reinstating korbanot on the Temple Mount, even though the messianic era had not yet arrived and the Temple was not rebuilt. A number of responsa concluded that within certain parameters, it is permissible according to Jewish law to offer such sacrifices.

During the early 20th century, Israel Meir Kagan advised some followers to set up special yeshivas for married students known as Qodshim Kolelim that would specialize in the study of the korbanot and study with greater intensity the qodshim sections of the Talmud in order to prepare for the arrival of the Jewish Messiah who would oversee the rebuilding of the original Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem that would be known as the Third Temple. His advice was taken seriously and today there are a number of well-established Haredi institutions in Israel that focus solely on the subject of the korbanot, qodshim, and the needs of the future Jewish Temple, such as the Brisk tradition and Soloveitchik dynasty.

A few groups, notably the Temple Institute and the Temple Mount Faithful, have petitioned the Israeli government to rebuild a Third Temple on the Temple Mount and restore sacrificial worship. The Israeli government has not responded favorably. Most Orthodox Jews regard rebuilding a Temple as an activity for a Jewish Messiah as part of a future Jewish eschatology, and most non-Orthodox Jews do not believe in the restoration of sacrificial worship at all. The Temple Institute has been constructing ritual objects in preparation for a resumption of sacrifices.

Today Orthodox Judaism includes mention of each korban on either a daily basis in the siddur (daily prayer book) or in the machzor (holiday prayerbook) as part of the prayers for the relevant days concerned. They are also referred to in the prayerbooks of Conservative Judaism, in an abbreviated fashion.

References to sacrifices in the Orthodox prayer service include:

• Korbanot (see section below) – a section of the morning prayer service devoted to readings related to the sacrifices.
• Retzai – Every the Orthodox Amidah, the central prayer of Jewish services, contains the paragraph: "Be favorable, Oh Lord our God, to your people Israel and their prayer, and restore the service of the Holy of Holies of Your House, and accept the fire-offerings of Israel and their prayer with love and favor, and may the service of your people Israel always be favored." Conservative Judaism removes the fire-offerings clause from this prayer.
• Yehi Ratzon – Private recitation of the Amidah traditionally ends with the Yehi Ratzon prayer for the restoration of the Temple.
• The Amidah itself is said to represent liturgically the purpose of the daily korban, while the recitation of the korbanot sections fulfill the formal responsibility to perform them, in the absence of the Temple.
• After the weekday Torah reading, a prayer is recited for the restoration of the Temple: "May it be the will before our Father who is in heaven to establish the House of our lives and to return his Shekhinah into our midst, speedily, in our days, and let us say Amen."
• On each Jewish holiday, the sections in the Torah mentioning that festival's korbanot is read out loud in synagogue.

Conservative Judaism disavows the resumption of korbanot. Consistent with this view, it has deleted prayers for the resumption of sacrifices from the Conservative siddur, including the morning study section from the sacrifices and prayers for the restoration of qorbanot in the Amidah, and various mentions elsewhere. Consistent with its view that priesthood and sacrificial system will not be restored, Conservative Judaism has also lifted certain restrictions on kohanim, including limitations on marriage prohibiting marrying a divorced woman or a convert. Conservative Judaism does, however, believe in the restoration of a Temple in some form, and in the continuation of kohanim and Levites under relaxed requirements, and has retained references to both in its prayer books. Consistent with its stress on the continuity of tradition, many Conservative synagogues have also retained references to Shabbat and Festival korbanot, changing all references to sacrifices into the past tense (e.g. the Orthodox "and there we will sacrifice" is changed to "and there they sacrificed"). Some more liberal Conservative synagogues, however, have removed all references to sacrifices, past or present, from the prayer service. The most recent official Conservative prayer book, Sim Shalom, provides both service alternatives.

Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism disavow all belief in a restoration of a Temple, the resumption of korbanot, or the continuation of identified Cohens or Levites. These branches of Judaism believe that all such practices represent ancient practices inconsistent with the requirements of modernity, and have removed all or virtually all references to korbanot from their prayer books.